(Al Jazeera Media Network) The African Union and India have postponed the India-Africa Forum Summit scheduled for next week in New Delhi, due to the “evolving health situation in parts of Africa”.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs made the announcement on Thursday as health officials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are battling a growing Ebola disease outbreak.
The decision was made in recognition of “the importance of ensuring the full participation and engagement of African leaders and stakeholders, and mindful of the emerging public health situation on the continent,” the joint statement said.
The announcement comes as the first Ebola case was confirmed in the DR Congo’s South Kivu province, an area controlled by the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels, the group’s spokesman said on Thursday.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the latest outbreak in the DRC, the 17th to hit the vast central African country of more than 100 million people, is already suspected of having caused 139 deaths, and there are 600 suspected cases.
Efforts to stop the latest outbreak of the deadly disease, which the WHO has declared an international emergency, have been affected by the DRC’s long-running conflicts, including between the Congolese army and the M23.